Cathedral Prep and Harbor Creek are in the middle of tight section races in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League at the All-Star break.

Prep (11-4-0) trails Chartiers Valley (12-3-1) and Bishop Canevin (11-1-2) and by three and two points, respectively, in Class AA's Section 2 standings. The Ramblers rank fifth in Class AA overall and are on pace to make the playoffs.

Harbor Creek (14-2-1) is second to Blackhawk (16-1-1) in the Open division's Section 2 standings and is tied for second overall.

However, McDowell (0-18-0) is still looking for its first win in Class AAA.

Six area players were selected for today's PIHL All-Star Games at RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island, near Pittsburgh.

Prep forward Jimmy Bufalino and defenseman Trey Tierney were picked to play in the Class AA game at 3 p.m. while forward Joseph Kelly was selected as an alternate.

Harbor Creek forward Hunter Emerson and defenseman Troy Miodus were selected to appear in the PIHL Open class game at 11 a.m., while goalie Tyler Manna was picked as an alternate. Harbor Creek's Paul Markiewicz was tabbed to serve as assistant coach in the game.

Prep is coming off a runner-up finish in PIHL Class AA a year ago, when the Ramblers took West Allegheny to overtime before falling 4-3 at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.

Bufalino, a junior, ranks eighth in PIHL Class AA with 37 points and has a team-high 19 goals in 15 games.

Emerson leads Harbor Creek with 19 goals and 34 points and is coming off a four-point game (goal, three assists) Friday in a 6-5 victory over Wheeling Park. Nick Rocco has 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) in PIHL play, and Logan Conboy has 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists).

Manna has been impressive in goal with a 14-2-1 record and 1.83 goals-against average.

Nicholas Wilcox has a team-high six goals and eight points for McDowell, which has been outscored 181-21 in PIHL Class AAA.

Meanwhile, Meadville's hopes for a second straight Lakeshore Hockey League championship begin with a freshman goaltender.

Sam Kineston assumed the starting role in mid-December when junior Austin Guanzon suffered a knee injury.

"And he's actually done very well if you look at the whole picture," said 27th-year coach Jamie Plunkett, who earned his 900th career win with the Bulldogs last weekend.

Kineston's brief stint as starter includes wins over Cleveland- area power St. Edward and Dublin Coffman from the Columbus, Ohio, area.

Yet Plunkett said his team has been inconsistent through a current three-game winless streak (0-1-2) in LSHL play. Meadville had its first league loss of the season earlier this week at home against Southwestern/Maple Grove.

That has tightened the standings a bit, with Fairview (5-3-1), Southwestern/Maple Grove (4-3-2) lurking right behind. Jamestown, which won consecutive LSHL titles in 2010 and 2011 and lost to Meadville in the championship game a season ago, stands last with a 1-6-3 record.

That should make for an intriguing run through the playoffs, which begin next month.

"(When) you come into a one-game situation like that, if you don't get good goaltending, it could be over," Plunkett said. "Sam's had a lot thrown at him in the last several weeks. He's played very, very well for us, and I think he's up for the challenge."

Plunkett earned his milestone win last Saturday in a Pennsylvania Amateur Hockey League game against the Arctic Foxes. But the Crawford County Youth Hockey Association Flames haven't fared well this season. The Flames are 10th in the 11-team league with a 4-13-0 record.